Wayward salmon trapped in federal wildlife refuge pond

As many as several hundred adult endangered winter-run Chinook salmon have been discovered in a shallow freshwater canal in California's Central Valley near Willows, where federal officials said Thursday the fish — which had been on their way upstream to spawn — may have been trapped for about five months.

Michael Woodbridge, a spokesman with the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the salmon were working their way up the Sacramento River when they evidently got sidetracked into the waterway, part of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Woodbridge said a "pulse" of high water, possibly caused by rainfall or by the intentional transferring of water from one refuge pond to another, may have confused the fish into believing they were entering a natural tributary of the Sacramento. Another smaller number of fish has also been found in the nearby Delevan National Wildlife Refuge.

Now, officials with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the state's Department of Fish of Wildlife are trying to return the salmon to the Sacramento River and to a nearby hatchery, where the fish will be processed. Woodbridge said that 94 salmon were rescued several days ago in the first effort to save the fish. Officials rescued about 30 salmon during the next effort, Woodbridge said, and less than 10 on Wednesday. Woodbridge believes\d many — perhaps even most — of the salmon initially trapped may now have been removed but says that a small number of dead salmon have been reported. Overall, he says, the effort "has been a success story."

Local fishermen, though, have reason to be worried. The current salmon fishing season will probably see a planned closure for several weeks in mid-summer as part of a calculated effort to protect the endangered winter—run Chinook salmon. But if a substantial number of salmon die in the ongoing upstream debacle, the winter-run population could be impacted heavily enough that fishery managers will have no choice but to enforce further fishing restrictions.